Miles O’Brien: FAA’s Reliance on ‘Tiny, Thin Copper Wires’ Raises Questions About Why Regional Control Centers Aren’t Connected by Fiber Optic Cable

RUSH EXCERPT:

O'BRIEN: “So many things are wrong about this, Laura. And let‘s start with the idea that the software engineers are not approaching aviation in the way that air traffic control does, which is to say an abundance of safety and redundancy. But to imagine pushing out this new technology over these tiny, thin copper wires, which connect all these regional air centers, air traffic control centers, you don‘t have to be a software engineer to realize that‘s not a great idea, and to do it on a Friday, a busy Friday. Why not try it on the wee hours of a Sunday and do that software push if you had to do it. But at the bottom line, you‘ve got basically a rickety old house that needs a lot of renovation. The air traffic control system. The first thing you do is you shore up the foundation before you start putting in the light fixtures. And, you know, the the foundation in this case is why aren‘t these regional control centers connected by fiber optic cable? I guess that doesn‘t make for good news conferences.”